Hi my Dear Friends! Today is such a milestone for me and I’m excited to share with you that I AM OFFICIALLY RETIRED! YAY! If you’ve followed me over on kimshandcraftedcards.com, you’ll know how long I’ve talked about how I dreamed that one day I would retire and craft full time!
How Did it Happen?
It all started at age 13 when I had to work summer jobs to help our family. My mother was a single mom raising 2 kids, working and attending college full time to earn her bachelor’s degree in education. She did it and became an awesome teacher! She taught me and my little brother about being independent and working hard. Both of us followed suit.
My career path was more rocky than my brother’s, he knew what he wanted and went for it! Before he passed away, he had earned his Masters and was an incredible financial wizard. I, on the other hand, encountered many problems due to manic depression and low self-esteem. I had opportunities that I could have taken advantage of but didn’t. I wonder what life might have been like if I had taken the advice I was given.
But no matter, God still led me through the journey of over 48 years of working to get to this point. For nearly 17 years, I worked for a Non-profit organization. Last year, I began to notice how my body was changing. For example, I started having pain in my right shoulder down to my hand from all the typing and using the computer. My role was web designer, content creator and digital marketing. So, you can just imagine how many hours I spent in front of the computer.
I also noticed my memory began to fail me and I knew the time was near. My mental side suffered greatly as well. For one, I was still battling PTSD, but the demands of the job increased and I knew I couldn’t keep up. In the technology industry, you have to stay up to date with all the changes as developers and programmers are constantly evolving software, hardware and internet policies.
Without keeping up with all the changes, you’re left behind. In web design, as software updates, you run into issues with the newer versions no longer compatible with other applications. And companies stop supporting earlier versions so you’re forced to either upgrade or look for other solutions and one of my tasks was problem solver on a budget! That’s incredibly hard. So, I made the decision that in 2025 I would retire and resign from the job. I informed the team.
How did I Prepare for Retirement?
I decided early retirement was for me and after a lot of praying and talking to my hubby, this option was the best for me. I knew I couldn’t work another 8 years of stress and pain to my body. So, I applied and SS was quite quick to process my application and in about 3 weeks afterwards I received my official benefits letter.
Because I had been with my job for so long and wore many hats, I spent about 4 months training team members to take over my roll. I also spent over a year developing an online training manual as a companion to my one-on-one training calls. It was a tough journey and it took a lot out of me but I knew that I didn’t want to leave my job to someone else to have “figure it all out!” That happened to me on one of my previous jobs when I lived in Florida. And, I almost quit so many times because the person I was replacing didn’t train me.
As the date neared for me to resign, I worked to transfer all the apps I used back to the organization and there’s was a lot still to do on the personal side. Hubby and I went through our monthly expenses to get a snapshot of what it could look like for us both to live on a fixed income. I had to ensure that our bills would be covered as you know we just purchased our first home last year. We also both have eBay businesses that we are trying to grow, so we are looking at those numbers.
Bottom line, it’s a leap of faith I’m taking and God is at the helm. He is the one leading me down this path and I am in the passenger seat. In prayer, He imprinted on my heart that it is time for me to enjoy my life. I prayed in response that I need Him to teach me how. I’ve had happy moments through my life but I have not enjoyed it… just too much loss and too much time wasted. But, He’s good and He turns our ashes into beauty (Isaiah 61:3).
So What Will I be Doing Now?
Well… I have some ideas! Mainly I want to learn to sew and for my retirement, hubby upgraded my sewing machine! I now own a SewMighty Mini Sewing Machine! It comes with 12 different stitches, I can remove the presser foot, it backstitches, it is much larger and comes with an extension table so it really feels more like I’m using a full size machine. I’ll link to the one I have below. So far, I am in love with this machine 🙂 I’ll be writing a blog post on it soon!
I also want to continue my crochet and felt stitching projects. I’m still making cards to donate to the Creative Kindness Foundation. You can learn more about this organization here. The other thing I want to do is further develop this blog because I absolutely love documenting my crafty journey with you. Now, that I have more time, I’d like to teach myself to make behind the scenes reels for IG.
Other things I hope to do more is spend more time outside with hubby, walk on the ocean, bring some exercise into my schedule and develop a morning routine. I can now eat at regular times and get my hours of sleep. What I’m saying is, I’m focusing on rebuilding my mental side. I’ve been in “work mode” for somebody else for so long that I don’t know how to relax. I know I have to listen to my body and mind and I need to rest now. I believe you can be active after retirement but you get to decide how much you want to do and that’s the freedom I’ve relished for years.
I’m just so happy that I got to live to see this day! Can’t tell you how happy hubby is, I think he’s more excited than I am!! Here’s to the next chapter!
Thanks for Reading!
Some of the links to the products I used are affiliate links which means that when you shop with them, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your support helps me run my small crafty business. Thank you so much!
Praise the Lord! Congratulations Kim! I’m happy for you. Enjoy.
Thank you so much my Sister! I sure appreciate your sweet comment!